Moving On and Moving Forward
by AOTfanfic
Summary: Mikasa didn't join the Scouts and Eren was left to join by himself, until the moody Captain Levi makes himself known to Eren and a gradual friendship was born. Eventual Eren Levi pairing.
1. Joining Up

"Hey Mikasa!" Eren's voice drifted across the yard. He jogged over to her, his teal eyes glowing with excitement.

"What is it Eren? You know what, don't tell me. You want to join the Scouts don't you?" Her disdainful tone dulled Eren's eyes and she noticed, but didn't say anything, just sighed and turned away.

"What's wrong? You were once so supportive of me, and now you seem to hate everything I do or say!"

"You saw the state of the Scouts who came back last Expedition. Or what was left of them anyway! I can't help it if I don't want you to die for a pointless cause! Why don't you join the Military Police? At least you'd be safe within the walls."

Eren hung his head. " So everything you said about understanding why I had to join the Scouts was a lie. I thought you said you'd stick by me forever! And since when was defeating the Titans a pointless cause? Are you saying that all those soldiers and civilians died for no reason? Are you saying my mother died for no reason?! "

"That's not what I mea-"

" Whatever. Forget it. I don't want you to join up with me anyway." Eren turned and walked away. He should have known this was coming; she had been like this ever since the Titans had broke through Wall Maria, destroyed Shiganshina and taken their mother's and Armin's life. Ever since that day, Mikasa had been haunted by their deaths and become cold and distant. Every time Eren tried to talk to her or help her, she cruelly brushed him off and put him down. He didn't realise she was deliberately doing this so if he died, she wouldn't break and could one day move on.


	2. Captain Levi

"Oi brat! What the hell do you think you're doing!" A smooth, loud voice pierced the quiet of the mess room.

Eren, who was at that moment flicking paper at Jean, turned to see where the voice had come from. Standing in the doorway was a short, black haired man with stunning grey eyes. Those stunning grey eyes were currently glaring at him.

"I um...are you talking to m-me? Eren stuttered.

" Who else brat? You're the only one making a mess on my carpet. You owe me a week of cleaning duty. You start tomorrow morning, meet me at half-six in my office and I'll instruct you on how to clean, as you were obviously raised in a barn." And with one last disdainful look that he stalked from the room.

"Eren. Eren!" Strong hands were shaking his shoulders and big worried eyes were staring into his teal ones.

"W-what is it?" He asked groggily, trying to remember who the person kneeling in front of him was.

"Didn't you have an appointment with Levi at half-six this morning?"

"Yeah, I did. I better go get dressed. Thanks for waking me up! I probably would have slept in otherwise..." With that he glanced at the clock and swore. It was quarter past eight.

"Crap! He's gonna kill me!" Eren flung some clothes on and raced to Captain Levi's office, pausing to shove his boots on before knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" A sharp voice called from the other side of the heavy wooden door.

"Eren sir. Reporting for cleaning duty." Eren said, surprisingly clear even though his hands were shaking and his legs felt like jelly. He had only seen the Captain two times and both of those times he had been beating other cadets and yelling at them for the slightest of things. He wondered if the Captain was going to beat him.

"Enter." Levi called.


	3. The Letter

**Authors Note: Hi, I'm not really sure what to write, but I wanted to say thanks for reading this fanfic and that any feedback is great; I'm new here so any advice and reviews are welcomed! Again, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

"Enter." Levi called.

The door swung open to reveal Captain Levi sitting on a chair, shifting through paperwork piled neatly on top of his gleaming desk. In fact, Eren noted, the entire room was gleaming. It was almost like Levi was a massive clean freak.

"Oi brat. Take your boots off. I don't want you getting dirt all over my floor." It seemed Levi actually was a massive clean freak, no doubt about it. It was obvious from the extensive collection of bleach and other cleaning products on his shelf.

Once Eren's boots were off and placed neatly next to the door Levi got up and silently handed him a bottle of cleaning product and a cloth.

"I want you to clean all of the bathrooms in this place. All of them. And if I find a single one with dirt on, you will have to repeat the entire process again. Am I clear?"

"Y-yes sir." Eren stuttered, wondering how long it was going to take him.

"And if you don't get them done quickly, you'll have to skip dinner and carry on through the night until they're done and absolutely spotless." Levi spoke slowly, as if speaking to a child. "Now go."

Eren raced off, not wanting to miss dinner because he was already starving after missing breakfast.

After cleaning the first couple of bathrooms on the first floor, Eren suddenly realised how big a task he was faced with. Never again would he sleep in. In fact, he doubted if he would ever sleep again. Captain Levi was damn scary.

Eren sat on his bed, nursing bleeding fingers and a wounded pride. He had worked so hard to get the bathrooms clean he had scraped all the skin off of his hands. Levi had inspected the toilets and although he found them passable he had decided to make an example of Eren and call him out in front of the entire squad for his mistake. Jean was never going to let this go. Eren, not for the first time, wished Mikasa was here.

"Hey, Eren! Guess what!" The same person who woke him up the day before was jumping up and down with excitment, big brown eyes shining with joy. He remembered who it was now: Hanji.

"What is it?" Eren asked, his voice dulled with tiredness.

"You have a letter!" Hanji whipped it out behind her back with a flourish and shoved the post in his face.

"Why is it wet?!" Eren spluttered.

"Ah. I may have accidentally dropped it in a puddle." Hanji helpfully supplied. "I was in a rush to get it to you and it slipped out of my hands." She at least had the grace to look sheepish. Eren opened the letter, tearing swiftly through the damp paper and scanning the neat writing. He could tell straightway it was from Mikasa.

"What?!" He cried. "That can't be true! I saw him...I saw him with my own eyes...just lying there! Armin can't be alive!"


End file.
